Monthly Archives: March 2013

We received the call a little while ago. Our beta was 5. Dr. K said that this was what is called a chemical pregnancy where one or more of the embryos tried to implant, but were unsuccessful. The nurse told me that Dr. K wanted me to stop my Estrace and PIO and my cycle should start soon. I am to go in for another blood test on Monday to make sure my body has gone back to zero. This is a sad time for us, yet joyful. We are sad because we love and miss our 4 precious babies. We are joyful that they are no longer in their frozen state, but have great hope that they are in heaven this very minute with their Heavenly Father. We are joyful that the Lord entrusted us to parent these little ones for even such a short time. We are hopeful as we know there are four more siblings who remain frozen, entrusted to our care by our Lord. We are called to move forward to parent.We are joyful for our Lord’s mercy and love and patience and grace in our lives. We are joyful for the beautiful grace given to us through the birth of Elizabeth (our reversal baby) and Sarah (our precious girl given to us by the Lord through EA).We are joyful as we move forward, though sad, that He has great things for all of His children!

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you! Psalm 84: 10-12We love you sweet babies.

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5 days post a 5 day transfer. That is where we are. Our Beta is on Friday and then we will see if our little ones continued to develop and implant. Friday. That would be……..1, ……..2, ……….3, ………4 more days after today. Thankfully, I have a lot to do this week to keep me busy : )

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The weather was absolutely gorgeous in Knoxville the morning of our transfer. I confess that I was full of fear and anxiety going in to our FET with Sarah, though Rhea and I had some dear friends through texting and phone calls all through the night and morning before Sarah’s transfer remind us of God’s truths and point us back to the Scriptures. Rhea and I stayed in touch with these same dear friends through this transfer, but in a completely different way. Rhea and I were not anxious, worried, or fearful this trip. We were just super excited though I did have quite a few butterflies an hour before we went, but they were the kind of butterflies of pure excitement.

With smiles and me feeling a bit woozy from the valium I had taken 30 minutes prior, Rhea drove us to the NEDC for our appointment. I was taken to the back promptly, changed into a hospital gown and had all my vitals taken by a nurse. Next, Dr. Keenan & Carol the embryologist came to visit with us about our embryos. Our little ones were stored 2 per straw. Carol thawed the first straw of two and one little one did not make it. She then thawed a second straw and both of those survived. She then showed us a picture of our beautiful babies and explained the grades she gave each of them. She also explained what each of the letters and number meant, but I have to say I didn’t retain much because my mind was very marshmallowy from the Valium.

Within a few minutes, nurse Katie came to wheel me into the procedure room. The actual prep for the procedure takes the most time. The actual transfer is completed in less that a minute. After the transfer, I was wheeled back to recovery where Rhea was waiting for me. He quickly gave me a kiss and touched my tummy and smiled. We stayed in recovery and prayed and stared at the photo of our babies. When I was allowed to get up, I dressed and then had a couple of pictures taken and said goodbye and left.

We left to go eat lunch at a fabulous restaurant. It was a loved local establishment. Those are the kinds of places we like to find when we travel. Rhea and I both agree that the burgers we ate were most definitely in the top 2 of best burgers we had eaten of all time. (for me it was #1, for Rhea #2).

With full tummies, we went back to the hotel and I slept the rest of the afternoon. With Sarah’s transfer, I did not cramp very much, but with this one I have had quite a bit of cramping. The nurse said this is very normal and expected. We had a light dinner since we pigged out at lunch. We laughed because we went to Texas Roadhouse while we were in Tennessee. It was in the parking lot of our hotel and so not only was it close, but I knew I could get their grilled chicken club salad and be quite content. We had a wonderful waiter and after a cup of decaf and some wonderful conversation together as a couple, we walked back to our hotel and Rhea put me back to bed!

Our flight to home to Texas was early yesterday afternoon. Walking through the airport my cramping increased and I could tell I had a low grade fever. The fever went away before I got home, but I am remembering how my reaction to PIO started last time. I started with off and on low grade fevers through the beta. Then between 4-6 weeks pregnancy my fever stuck around and slowly crept up to 101. At that time, the RE we used for Sarah’s transfer took me off PIO and switched me to Crinone. Dr. Keenan said he wanted to try me again on PIO this transfer, but with a different carrier oil. I am currently injecting 1cc 2x a day of progesterone in cottonseed oil. We are praying my body can accept this carrier oil. I have no redness or knots or inflammation at the injection sites at all. So far, so good there!

We are home now. We are grateful to some precious friends for holding down the fort and caring for our kiddos while we were gone. We have a full weekend and I knew if I didn’t make the time this morning to journal our trip, I probably wouldn’t get to it for a good while. : )

Our appointment for blood work is 3/29. I will have a beta (pregnancy test) and progesterone drawn. The office will call with the results later that day. Will I test at home before that date. Well those who know me, know that that is a very likely possibility. Rhea and I are discussing which day to test. I will let you know.

For those who do not understand the grading of the embryos, I will dedicate a post to explaining that next time. We all know however, that the Lord controls this entire situation and we pray only for His sovereign will to be done. “that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.” 1 Cor 2:5 We are blessed to be carrying these little ones for however long the Lord wills.

Rhea shared with me this morning a beautiful verse, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Cor 2:9 We have great hope that our babies will live, but we have greater hope in the One who brought us to this very place.

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Here are some photos from our special day:

We chose the Manager’s Special when renting our car online. We paid up front online for a compact or better. We paid the compact rate, but when we got to the desk, the man asked if we would like a Mustang convertible as our free upgrade. Rhea said that sounded good to him even though he is a Chevy guy ; ) It was nice car to have even though we didn’t put the top down (temps never got above 50 degrees)!

Here we are waiting for Dr. Keenan and Carol to let us know about our tiny ones. I was so groggy from the Valium.

Here are our babies who were transferred. They were all 5 day Blastocysts. The one on the left was graded 3AC and the 2 on the right were graded 3AA & 3AB

Here is a photo showing where the babies were transferred. The dark area is my uterus and the “+” is the exact area in my uterine lining that Dr. Keenan placed the babies.

Here we are with Dr. Keenan after recovery was over and we were about to leave. Yes, I was still groggy from the Valium!

and one more photo this time with our wonderful nurse Katie.

And now we wait for March 29th. : )

“May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:11-14

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Everything went beautifully! 4 of our 8 little babies were thawed, 3 survived and one sadly did not make it. The 3 remaining babies were transferred. We left after resting in recovrey for a while. We went and ate a big lunch and then came back to the hotel to sleep off the rest of the Valium that I had taken prior to the transfer. I am still groggy but resting in bed still. We head home tomorrow afternoon back to Texas. Our remaining 4 babies fly back to their storage facility tomorrow too.Our blood test is on 3/29. Thank you onec again for all the prayers you have showered us with these past few days!

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We arrived just awhile ago. We are at the hotel about ready to go eat. I am looking forward to some special uninterrupted time with my husband. We both just keep smiling. We are in the same town as our babies. Tomorrow morning we will be in the same building together! Our FET is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. EST. Thank you in advance for your prayers for the doctor, the embryologist, for Rhea and I, and our little tiny ones.

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We are packed, I have my PIO shot supplies on my counter for in the morning, and my alarm set to get up and out the door to the airport. Tomorrow is travel day and Wednesday we “meet” some of our tiny ones and have the transfer and then we rest before traveling home with our tiny babies on Thursday. : )

The Lord has been so incredibly gracious to us during these last few months. So many of you reading this very post have been instrumental in helping us reach out to, love, and adopt these tiny babies. Your prayers for us as we travel, prayers for our children and the family who is staying at our home to care for them are appreciated. Please pray for the doctors and the embryologist who will be delicately handling our precious babies.

As I read my Bible this morning, these verses really shines through as we approach this trip.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Eph 2:4-10

The Lord has indeed showed us immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness toward us through His Son. We are walking in the path He has chosen for us. We are humbled that He has called us to be parents once again. We have great hope that we will hold these babies this side of heaven, but if He chooses that we do not, we are so very grateful He entrusted us to care for His children for however long He chose us to care for them on this earth.

Good night all!

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My ultrasound appointment went very well. The doctor said everything looked great. My edometrium was 10.3. My blood work showed my estradoil was 1508. I am to start PIO shots tomorrow and decrease my Estrace from 3x a day to twice a day. We fly out on Tuesday and our FET is scheduled at the NEDC for 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday! We are so excited : )

Had a fun filled visit with my sister and her two boys this past Thursday through Saturday.

Some random virus then hit our home after my sis left to go home. Rebecca went down Saturday night through Sunday night. Levi went down last night and is still down with sore throat and fever & praying the other kiddos stay well.

One of Rebecca’s rabbits (English Spot) gave birth on Sunday to 6 little kits.

Today consisted of juggling a busy toddler, a sick kiddo, a high school son who needed help with studies, a daughter who was recovering from being sick and moving slowly, a Pre-K-er who had a lot of energy to share.

So, EA update?

Can you believe we leave a week from tomorrow? This FET date is happening crazy fast! I am eating well and cut out coffee a few weeks ago. I have been off sugar since before Christmas. No these are not things doctor recommended, but I know my body and I know that it does best with no coffee and no sugar. We want my body to be in the best possible shape for this FET. We are preparing our “home” for these babies.

My last Lupron shot was last night. I will miss my little “shot helper”. Elizabeth loved coming to help me and encourage me and always reminded which side of my stomach I needed to administer the shot in.

I am now on Estrace 3x a day and that is it for now.

I have my next u/s and blood work draw this Friday at 7:30a.m.

I then wait for the call from nurse Katie to instruct on my new Estrace dose & clearance to begin PIO injections.

Carol the embryologist will thaw 2 of our little ones and if they look good and strong, Dr. K will transfer the 2. If one of the 2 dies or one has few living cells before the transfer, Carol will thaw another one of our precious little ones. Dr. K will then thaw all embryos who have any living cells. This means we will have 2-3 of our little ones transferred at our FET. Even with 3 transferred, Dr. K said there is a 25% probability of multiples. The NEDC had close to an 80% positive PG rate for the last round of transfers in January. We remain hopeful that the Lord will bless us with a positive PG test too.

After taking it easy the rest of Wednesday and Thursday morning, we will fly home Thursday afternoon.

I am to continue to inject PIO 2x a day until our PG blood test 2 weeks after the FET.

Prayer requests:

For time management for me this week as I meal plan and cook for the kids and the family who will be staying her with our kiddos. (We found out last week Sarah is definitely cannot handle cow’s milk/cheese/yogurt).

For the virus that is here at our home to move on down the road and all of us to get/stay well.

my body to be well rested going into next week.

for my appt to go well on Friday and my body to be ready for the FET.

for me to not have a reaction this time to the PIO. (This time Dr. K prescribed a different carrier oil)

Thank you again for the texts, emails, and calls checking on me. It definitely means a lot to Rhea and I and our family to know you are thinking of us and praying. I will update at the latest on Friday after I hear back from nurse Katie!